Family
by willgirl
Summary: Brennan meets Booth's family. Will they love her or hate her? Fourth in the A Year in the Life collection.
1. Philadelphia

**A/N: Here is the beginning of story number four in the A Year in the Life Series. I hope you like it as much as the other three!**

**Chapter One: Philadelphia**

Temperance Brennan was nervous. There wasn't much in her daily life that made her nervous. Her job, one of the central focuses of her life, definitely did not make her nervous. Although identifying human remains would bother most people, it didn't bother her. She loved every aspect of her job. 'Except perhaps the paperwork.' She thought to herself.

The other central focus of her life, her partner, had a habit of making her nervous. More than she'd like to admit. But at the same time, he always made her nervousness disappear. She hoped that when he walked through the doors, he would do just that.

"Sweetie, are you alright?" Angela said, next to her.

"What?" she said, confusedly. "Oh, Ange.. yeah I am fine." She went back to looking at the skeleton on the table.

"Is this about Philadelphia?" Angela asked.

"No." she replied a little too quickly. She hoped that Angela hadn't noticed. Unfortunately she did.

"Bren what are you worried about?" Angela asked.

"Nothing, I'm…it's just that people don't like me." She admitted. She knew it was true. Most people thought she was odd and completely lacking in social skills. She usually avoided social situations, preferring to focus on her work. Unfortunately she couldn't avoid this weekend.

It had been three weeks since Booth had come back and they had been reinstated as partners. They had already solved a case and were working their way through another. He had received a call last week from his mother asking him to bring Parker and come up to visit and he had relented. And he was bringing her along.

"People like you." Angela said. "You know they do."

"Not when they first meet me." She said honestly. "Not that I care of course but.."

"It's Booth's family." Angela interrupted. "Of course you care."

"What if they don't like me?" she said in a quiet voice.

"Oh sweetie, they will love you." Angela said. "And if they don't, it doesn't matter. Booth loves you and that is all that is important."

"It's just that I am not sure what to do." she said. "I never met any of my previous boyfriend's families, and my own family… I guess I just don't know how to act."

"Well first of all you have got to stop worrying about this." Angela said. "And I don't think there is one particular way to act. You just have to let go and see what happens. Booth will be there to help you out."

"I guess you are right." She said. "I was being irrational."

"Don't worry" Angela said. "You will have fun and everything will be fine. What time are you leaving?"

"In about an hour." She replied. "We have to pick up Parker from school and then we will be on our way. But I will have my cellphone on if something comes up with the case. I have already told Zach and Hodgins that they can call me."

"No way." Angela said. "You need a weekend away. You can deal with the case on Monday."

She put down the skull in her hands and turned to Angela. "Thanks a lot, Ange." She said.

"No problem, sweetie." Angela said, giving her a hug and walking away.

As she finished reconstructing the skull, she heard a voice call out.

"Bones! Ready to go?"

She turned around and saw him coming up the stairs toward the platform. He was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans and she smiled in spite of herself. She loved how different he acted when he wasn't in FBI mode. He made the distinction in his clothing as well, foregoing the suits for more casual attire when he wasn't working.

"Yeah." She replied. "Let me just tell Zach that I am finished here."

Ten minutes later, she had gathered all of her things and was heading out the door of her office.

Zach and Hodgins were on the platform arguing over something and Angela was rolling her eyes at them. Booth was just staring at them amusedly.

"Ready?" he said, holding out his hand.

"I am." She replied, walking towards him and grabbing his hand. "I will be back on Monday." She said to the others.

"Have fun sweetie!" Angela said. "Remember what I said!"

They walked out of the Jeffersonian and headed to the car.

"What did Angela say?" Booth said. "Don't tell me it was dirty." He looked at her and grinned as he loaded her bag into the trunk.

She smiled back. "It was nothing like that." She climbed into the passenger's seat and waited for him to get in. He got into the car but didn't turn it on.

"What?" she asked.

"Listen, Temperance are you okay with this?" he asked, looking concerned. "Because it's my family and I know that with your family and everything…."

She pressed her fingers against his lips to quiet him. "I'm okay with this Booth." She said. "I'm just nervous."

He pulled her hand away, leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips. "You are my partner and my girlfriend and if I have to spend my whole life showing them how much I love you then so be it. I would like them to like you and vice versa, but really it's not important. What is important is that we are together. Besides you will like my family, I promise."

"Okay." She replied, squeezing his hand. "Let's go get Parker."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

Five hours, two bathroom stops and several 'when are we there yets?' later, they were almost there. He looked over at Temperance and then glanced in the back seat at Parker. They were both sound asleep. He smiled and turned his attention back to the road. He flicked on the radio and began listening. Hopefully he would stay alert for the next few minutes until they got there.

His thoughts turned to this weekend. He hated to admit it but he was nervous as well. His family could be…interesting. He remembered when he told them that Rebecca was pregnant. That sent shockwaves through the Catholic family. And it was one of the reasons that his family didn't connect as often as they used to. His gambling issue had also placed some strain on his family, but they were getting over it.

And now he was bringing his atheist girlfriend who didn't want children and didn't believe in marriage to visit. He just hoped that they would see how much he loved her and move past all of that. Technically they had been together for over two months, but he was away for five weeks of that time. It was still new, their relationship, still fragile. He just didn't want to give her any reason to run. 'Or myself either.' He thought. He had never been in a relationship like this before. Yes, he thought he was in love with Rebecca, but that paled in comparison to what he felt for Bones. Yes, the relationship was new but at the same time it felt as if they had been together forever.

He chuckled as he thought about how easily they had adapted to their new living situation. They definitely had a routine, from who made the coffee in the morning to who turned the lights off at night. It was comfortable and perfect. Of course, more often that not, sex derailed this routine but he definitely did not mind that. He took his hand off the steering wheel and stroked her cheek. She moved slightly under his touch. He wondered when this would stop, his obsessive need to touch her every once in a while, as if to make sure that she was still there beside him, that she was still his.

She stirred and then opened her eyes. "Are we there yet?" she said, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"I thought we set out a clearly defined rule that no one was allowed to say that." He said, his eyes twinkling.

"Hmmm…" she said smiling. "I guess."

"In answer to your question, yes we are almost there." He replied. "We are about five minutes away."

She immediately sat up straighter and started to flatten down her hair and straighten out her clothes.

He reached over and squeezed her hand. "It will be great, I promise."

She squeezed back and a smile graced her lips. "So have your parents lived in this house your whole life?" she asked.

"Yep, the moved there when they got married." He replied.

She looked out the window and noticed all of the trees. "I thought we were in Philadelphia." She said. "Where are all of the buildings?"

"We are actually twenty minutes outside of Philadelphia." He said.

"It looks very farmy." She said.

"Farmy? Is that even a word?" he replied laughing.

"Well…I meant to say farmlike." She said defending herself.

He laughed again. "Yes it is very farmy." He said, putting emphasis on the made up word.

"Don't make fun of me Booth." She said, giving him a pout.

"Ohh the pout comes out." He said. "I surrender!" He lifted his hands off the wheel for a second in mock surrender.

"I.." she started.

"Hold that thought." He replied, pulling into a long driveway. "Because we are here."

He immediately felt her tense up beside him. He parked the car next to his parents and turned off the ignition. He reached over and pulled her into his arms, kissing her passionately on the lips. "It will be fine." He said, after they had broken apart.

"Okay." She said, smiling nervously.

"Daddy are we there yet?" Parker said groggily from the backseat.

"Yes we are." He replied. Parker was immediately awake.

"Yeahhhh!!!!" Parker said. "Let's go see Grandma and Grandpa!"

They got out of the car and got their bags from the trunk, Parker jumping up and down excitingly. He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the house.

"C'mon Dr. Bones!" he said. "I betcha Grandma's got cookies!"

She let Parker drag her to the house, Booth following close behind with the bags.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I really appreciate it! I hope you like this chapter!**

They knocked on the door and waited. A few seconds later, the door swung open.

"Grandma!" Parker said, rushing the woman at the door. She had dark hair like Booth's and was tall and lean like him.

"Parker." She replied, lifting him up and hugging him. She turned to Booth. "Hi Seeley." She said giving him a hug.

"Hi Mom." He replied. "Mom this is my partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan. Temperance this is my mom."

"Nice to meet you." Booth's mother said. "Please call me Stella."

"It is nice to meet you too." She replied.

"Well no use standing out in the cold, come in." Stella said, ushering them in.

She stepped in the door and looked around. To the right was a cosy living room where several people were sitting, to the left a closet and a hallway leading to what she supposed was the kitchen. Directly in front of her was a spiral staircase leading to the upstairs of the house. Along the wall were tons of pictures of the family. She felt his hand grasp hers and he gave it a squeeze.

"Seeley, how are you?" a man said, coming in from the kitchen.

"Hi Dad." Booth said, giving him a hug.

"Hi Grandpa!" Parker said, wiggling out of Stella's arms and hugging his legs.

"Hi little man. I've been waiting for you all day!" he said.

"Dad, this is Dr. Temperance Brennan, my partner." Booth repeated. "Temperance, meet my dad James."

"Nice to meet you, Dr. Brennan." James said, coming over and giving her a hug.

"Oh…you can call me Tempe." She replied, returning the hug. James was like an older version of Booth. He gave the outward appearance of a serious man, but the twinkle in his eye said differently. She got the feeling that she was going to like him very much.

"Well, you two are special." Booth said, addressing his parents. "She doesn't even let me call her Tempe!"

"Hey!" she protested, punching him lightly in the arm. "Maybe I would if you didn't call me Bones!"

"Aww, c'mon Bones…" he said, flashing his charm smile at her.

"Well, the rest of the family are in the living room." Stella said.

"The whole family?" Booth questioned.

"No, not the whole family. They are coming over tomorrow. It's just Jared and Lindsey and Paul and Susan." Stella said.

"So when you said come up and spend the weekend with just us, you meant us and the entire rest of the family?" Booth said, shaking his head.

"Well you haven't been here in a while." Stella said. "Everyone wanted to see you."

Booth sighed.

"Let's go, Dr. Bones." Parker said, tugging at her arm. "Come meet Uncle Jared."

"Dr. Bones?" James said, smiling at her.

"Like father, like son." She replied, smiling back. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. She let Parker lead her into the living room where everyone else was.

"Hi Uncle Jared!" Parker said, going up to a man sitting on the couch.

"Hi Parker!" Jared replied, giving him a hug. "How are you?"

"I'm good." Parker said. "This is Dr. Bones. She's daddy's partner and she listens to bones and her and daddy go catch the bad guys and she took me to see the mummies and I live with her and daddy in my dinosaur room." Parker said, pausing for breath. "Annnnd… she is the smartest person in the whole world and did you know that there are 206 bones in the body? Did ya?"

"Wow." Jared said smiling. He held out his hand. "Hi, I am Jared, Seeley's younger but way better brother."

"It's nice to meet you." She said smiling. Parker's description of who she was put her at ease. "I'm Dr. Brennan, but you can call me Tempe."

"This is my wife, Lindsay." He said, gesturing to the blond woman beside him.

"It's nice to meet you." She said. Parker pulled her to the other two people in the room.

"This is Paul and this is Susan." Parker said.

"Hi." Susan said, shaking her hand. "I'm Seeley's cousin and this is my husband Paul. It's very nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you as well." She said, shaking both their hands.

"Have a seat." Susan said, gesturing to the chair beside her.

She sat down and Parker immediately crawled up into her lap.

"So what is it you do exactly?" Jared said.

"I'm a forensic anthropologist. I specialize in identifying human remains." She said.

"Ewww." Lindsay said. "Sorry, no offense."

"Uhh…"she said, not sure how to reply.

"What are we talking about?" Booth said, coming into the room and sitting in a chair beside her. She smiled at him gratefully. He may not have realized it, but he just saved her from making an awkward reply.

"Dr. Brennan was explaining her job." Paul said. "I for one, am fascinated and confused at the same time. What can you tell from a skeleton?"

"You name it, she can tell it." Booth said. "Name, age, gender, how they died, when they died, the type of sport they played.."

"You can tell that?" Susan piped up.

"Yeah, well the bones show certain stress factors that indicate whether a person played a physical sport such as tennis." She replied.

"Interesting." Paul said. "So where do you come in Seeley?"

"Well, after the squints have identified the remains, Bones and I figure out the suspects and track down the killer." Booth said.

"Squints?" Jared asked.

"Bones?" Lindsay said at the same time.

"Ohh, sorry. The squints are Bones' team at the Jeffersonian. Angela, Hodgins and Zach." Booth said. "Zach is a forensic anthropologist like Temperance, he used to be her grad student but he just got his doctorate. Hodgins is the bug and dirt guy, he can determine how long someone's been dead just by looking at the soil where the body was. And Angela is a forensic artist. She takes the skull and draws a picture using tissue markers to determine what the face looks like. Then we run it through the missing persons database to find a match."

"Why are they called squints?" Jared asked.

"Umm…it's an FBI term of endearment for scientists who we use to help out on cases. Because they squint at things, you know?" Booth said, looking over at Temperance and wincing.

"Okay, I get that." Lindsay said. "But who is Bones?"

Booth laughed. "Temperance is Bones. It's just my nickname for her."

"Interesting nickname." Susan said.

"I have repeatedly tried to get Booth to stop using it, but he won't." she said feigning anger.

"Ahh, come on Bones, you know you like it." Booth said, smiling at her.

"You call him Booth?" Stella said, coming into the room.

"Umm yeah." She replied feeling uncomfortable all of the sudden.

"Interesting." Stella replied. "Looks like it's someone's bedtime."

She looked down and saw that Parker was sound asleep in her arms.

"What time is it?" Booth asked.

"It's nearly eleven." James said from the doorway. "Time to kick our guests out and get some sleep."

"Thanks for the hint dad." Jared said, standing up.

"Anytime son." James replied, smiling.

She slowly got out of the chair with Parker in her arms.

"Where are we sleeping?" Booth asked his mom.

"In your old room." Stella replied. "We put the guest bed in there a few months ago when Aunt Cindy came to visit."

"Thanks." Booth said.

Jared and Lindsay put their shoes and coats on.

"It was nice to meet you Tempe." Lindsay said, shaking her hand. "We will see you tomorrow." They left, soon followed by Paul and Susan.

"Well.." James said. "Does anybody want anything?"

"Actually Dad I think I am going to go to bed." Booth said. "Somebody made me get up at 5:30 this morning." He looked pointedly at her.

"What?" she said. "I needed to get my work done before we left."

"Okay well we will see you tomorrow." James said, chuckling. "Tempe, let me say once again that it is good to meet you. Frankly, we heard so much about you that we didn't know if you were real or not!"

"Dad!" Booth exclaimed. He bent down and picked up their bags.

"Night Dad, night Mom." He said.

"Night Seeley." Stella said. "Night Temperance."

Booth's parents headed off to the kitchen for a late night snack.

"Ready to go?" Booth said, turning to her.

"Yes." She replied, following him up the stairs. She stopped and looked at the pictures that were hung all over the wall. There were pictures of Booth from when he was little all the way up to the present. There were pictures of family camping trips and graduation pictures, pictures of him and Jared hugging on a picnic bench and one of Booth in his fatigues. He had stopped going up the stairs when he noticed her looking at the pictures.

"Hey." He said, coming back down a few steps. "We will have one too."

"One what?" she said, shifting Parker in her arms.

"A picture wall." He replied, dropping the bags and putting his arm around her waist and pulling her and Parker back into his arms. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." She sighed. "I am.. it's just, looking at your family pictures… it's hard. I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for Temperance." He replied. "Nothing at all. Now what do you say we head up to bed?"

"Okay." She replied, following him up the stairs, taking one last glance at the pictures on the wall.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews! I'm glad everyone is liking this series. Here's the next chapter!**

She yawned and opened her eyes. She looked over at her bed mates, immediately letting out a soft chuckle. Booth was sprawled out on the bed, legs spread wide and hands above his head. Parker was in between them in the exact same position as his father. She slowly extracted herself from the bed and slipped her running shoes on.

She looked at the clock and noticed that it was six-thirty. She doubted that anyone would be up and it seemed like a perfect time for a walk. She headed downstairs and confirmed her earlier thoughts. No one was awake. She grabbed her coat and headed outside. She immediately breathed in the air and sighed. It was quiet and peaceful here. There was something to be said about getting out of the city.

"Going for a walk?" a voice said, startling her. She looked over and saw James sitting on one of the benches with a cup of coffee.

"Yes, I think so." She replied. "I didn't think anyone else was up."

"Oh I am always up at this time." James said. "A habit left over from my army days."

"And yet your son likes to sleep in till all hours." She replied, smiling.

"Yeah, well Seeley always did his own thing." James said, chuckling. "If you would like I can give you the grand tour."

"That would be great." She said. They headed off the porch together and started walked across the property.

"How much of this is yours?" she asked.

"All the way over to those trees." James answered pointing to the left. "This used to be a working farm, but when we bought it we just converted it into a regular house."

They started walking to the right, following a small path that led around the house.

"Come on I will take you to the pond." James said.

"You have a pond?" she asked. "This must have been a fun place to grow up."

"I know the boys liked it." James replied. "When they weren't trying to drown each other in the pond." They rounded the corner of the house and there stood a small pond, with a rowboat in the middle. Chunks of ice were floating all around. "It's much nicer when in the summer. Stella has flowers planted all around, it looks really nice."

"Well I will have to come back and see it then." She said.

"Absolutely." James said. "I have been wanting to meet you for a long time. Ever since Seeley started talking about you."

"I hope he didn't say anything bad." She said, knowing full well that he probably did.

"Oh nothing bad." James said. "In the beginning he talked about how you were a pain in the butt. But then he began recounting tales of you. I knew you had definitely rubbed off on him when he started spouting words like phalanges in everyday sentences."

She started to laugh. She liked James, he was easy to talk to. Booth was definitely a lot like him.

"Anyway he called on Christmas Day to wish us a Merry Christmas and Stella weaseled it out of him about you." James said. "He also called the day before he left to go undercover and said that you two had been seeing each other. That must have been hard, him leaving for five weeks. It was difficult for us too. Even though sometimes it is a month since we talk, once that ability to call is taken away, it makes it harder."

"It was really hard." She said, trying not to think about it. It still made her a bit teary. "It was definitely hard on Parker."

"I can imagine." James said. "He is a tough kid though." They continued wandering around the pond and down another path leading towards a small enclosure of trees. "So Tempe do you play chess?"

"Yes I do." She replied.

"I don't want to sound rude but are you good?" James asked.

"Yes I am." She said bluntly.

"Good." James replied. "I have been looking for someone good to play chess with for a while. What do you say we head back up to the house and I challenge you in a game before the others wake up?"

"Sounds good." She said. "But only if there is tea or coffee involved."

"Deal." James said as they headed back to the house.

Booth woke up and reached over for her. Moving his hand around, he realized she wasn't there. He focused his eyes and turned to look. She definitely wasn't there. The clock said 7:10, he didn't imagine anyone else would be up except for his dad. His dad was always up by six every morning, even if he had stayed up late the night before. He himself was entirely different, relishing sleeping in late. 'That didn't happen to often with Bones.' He thought to himself. He grabbed a pair of pants an a t-shirt, threw them on and headed downstairs. He was about to head into the kitchen when he heard laughter coming from the study. He crept towards the open door and peeked in. There was Temperance and his dad, playing chess and laughing over something.

"Are you cheating?" she asked James suspiciously.

"No, I would never cheat at chess." James said. "Why does Seeley cheat?"

"Only sometimes." She said grinning.

"So did your dad teach you to play chess?" James asked.

His breath hitched when he heard the question his Dad asked. He didn't know whether he should go in and interrupt them in order to prevent her from having to answer that question.

"Actually no." she replied. "I didn't learn chess till I was in university. Besides my father…well I am sure Seeley told you about my family."

"He didn't." James said. "To be honest, I had asked once and he said that it was up to you to tell us. Which you don't have to do by the way?"

"Really?" she said. 'Thoughtful.' Was the first thought that came to her mind. He knew that she didn't want everyone knowing what had happened.

"Yes." James replied. "Now stop stalling and make a move."

She laughed again and moved one of her chess pieces.

He tiptoed away from the door and headed into the kitchen. He was glad that his Dad and Temperance were getting along. She had seemed so worried that none of his family would like her. He grabbed a cup of coffee and went out and sat on the porch swing. He sat figuring out their plans for the day. There was definitely a lot of things that he wanted to show her.

He suddenly groaned. 'The family.' He thought to himself. 'I can't believe Mom invited the family.' Whereas he thought that Temperance would be okay dealing with his parents and Jared and Lindsay, adding in about twenty other people might be a problem. 'Oh well.' The thought to himself. 'I'm sure it will be fine.'

He thought back to last night. He had seen the look in her eyes when she had looked at the pictures on the wall and it made his heart ache. There were certain things about her he knew that he could never fix, no matter how badly he wanted to.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! Here's a long one for you!**

He leaned back against the porch swing and shut his eyes. Although he loved DC, there was something peaceful about his parent's home that always made him want to come back. He heard the door open and the padding of footsteps. She sat down beside him, tucked her arm in his and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Morning." She said. "How long have you been up?"

"Not too long." He replied. "I woke up and you were gone."

"I was playing chess with your dad." She said. "I woke up early to go for a walk and he took me on a tour. I like the pond."

"I'm glad that you and my dad are getting along." He said pulling her closer.

"Yeah me too." She replied. "He did beat me at chess though. I don't know how that happened."

He looked over and saw the puzzled expression on her face and laughed.

"What?" she said, looking confused.

"You are just cute." He said.

"You laughed at me because I'm cute?" she asked.

"You are right, it was not the right reaction. I should have done this." He said, leaning down and kissing her softly on the lips.

"That's better." She smiled as they parted. "I'm surprised Parker isn't up."

"He should be up soon." He replied. "In the meantime, let's get some breakfast. I'm starving and it's cold out here."

"Okay." She replied. They headed back into the house and after taking their coats off, wandered into the kitchen where his parents were.

"Where is that grandson of mine Seeley?" Stella asked. "I'm surprised he hasn't smelt the pancakes yet."

"He had a busy day yesterday." He replied. "I'm sure he will be down soon. In the meantime, I think we can help with the pancakes."

"Us too." Shouted a voice from the hallway. A few seconds later, Jared and Lindsay appeared. "I'm starving." Jared said, sitting down at the table and grabbing a plate. Lindsay followed suit.

"Well there are plenty of pancakes." Stella said, dishing out the first few. Suddenly they heard the patter of feet coming down the stairs.

"Hi Grandma, Hi Grandpa!" Parker said, coming into the room. "Can I have some pancakes?"

"Absolutely." James said. "But first you have to pay the tax!" Parker ran over and gave him a hug and then ran back to where he and Temperance were sitting.

"Hi Daddy." Parker said, giving him a big hug.

"Hi Parker." He replied, hugging him back equally hard. Parker turned and went over and climbed up on Temperance's lap and hugged her.

"Hi Dr. Bones." He said, wrapping his arms around her neck.

"Hi Parker." She replied. "Did you have a good sleep?"

"Yep." Parker said. "I had a dream about monkeys!!"

"Parker, why don't you have a seat and you can have some pancakes." Stella said, coming over with another plate of heaping pancakes.

"Can I sit with you Dr. Bones?" Parker said, looking up at her.

"Sure Parker." She replied, brushing his blond curls out of his face and turning him around so that he sat on her lap.

He sat and watched them eat off of the same plate of pancakes. Parker had been like this since he had come back, always sitting on or close to Bones at all time. He didn't realize how close they had become when he was away. It comforted him, to see them together but made him sad at the same time. Parker had been really bothered by his leaving and he knew it would take a while for things to return to normal. So for now, Parker was sleeping in their bed and not straying far from them when he was awake. He was also randomly giving him hugs, which he couldn't complain about. Rebecca mentioned that Parker was having trouble sleeping at first, but that seemed to fix itself. Surprisingly, Rebecca was letting him have more time with Parker which he greatly appreciated.

Temperance looked up and smiled at him and he smiled back. He noticed that she also was suffering the after effects of him leaving. Although perfectly normal during the day, at night he would wake up and her arms would be wrapped so tightly around him that he could hardly breathe. He didn't complain about that either.

"So what time is the family coming?" he asked, as he took another bite of his pancake.

"Oh probably around 2 or three." Stella said, getting herself situated at the table.

"That's good." He replied. "I wanted to take Temperance to show her Philadelphia since she's never been here before."

"Daddy let's take her to the big bell!" Parker said excitedly.

"Good idea bud." He replied leaning over and wiping the syrup off of his face.

Suddenly a cellphone rang. She moved Parker over, reached into her pocket and flipped open the phone. "Brennan." She said.

"Dr. Brennan, it's Zach. I found some interesting marks on the bone that I can't identify." Zach said.

"Hold on." She replied. She lifted the phone away from her mouth. "Could you get my laptop?" she said to Booth.

"Yeah." He replied, getting up from the table and heading up to the bedroom.

"Zach, I am going to call you back when I have my laptop hooked up, okay?" she said.

"Okay, Dr. Brennan." Zach replied. She hung up her phone and looked at Parker.

"Parker, I need to talk to Zach for a minute. Why don't you go colour a picture and then when your daddy and I are done working, we can go?" she said.

"Okay, Dr. Bones." Parker said, jumping off her lap.

"Grandma?" Parker asked. "Can I have some paper and crayons?"

"Sure." Stella replied, heading into the living room with Parker to set him up.

Booth came down the stairs with her laptop in tow.

"So have they found the murder weapon yet?" he asked.

"No, Zach found some marks on the bone that he can't identify. That might lead us to the weapon." She said. "Do you mind if I set this up here for a moment?" she said, looking at the rest of the occupants at the table.

"Not a problem Tempe." James said smiling. "I thought this was supposed to be your weekend off though Seeley?"

"It is." He replied wearily. "But when you are in the middle of a case, you don't really get the weekend off. Hence the reason the squints are in the lab on a Saturday."

She set up the laptop and connected through to the Jeffersonian.

"Zach Addy." Zach said.

"I know its you Zach." She said. Despite her saying this, every time he answered in the same way. "Show me what you have."

He showed her the bones on the computer and she looked at them completely puzzled.

"Magnify by 50, Zach." She said. "They look like bone dimples."

"That's what I thought." Zach said. "But on closer inspection…" He zoomed in closer.

"The holes are in a regular pattern." Booth said.

"Exactly." She replied. "It's some sort of small tined instrument."

"Excuse me, Dr. Brennan." Hodgins said, coming into view. "I found some particulates on the.."

"Excuse me? What are you two doing?" Angela said. She appeared on the monitor a few seconds later. "Sorry sweetie, I gave them express instructions not to bother you. It can wait till Monday."

"It's not a big deal, Ange." She replied.

"So how's the family?" Angela asked. "Are they nice? When do we get to meet them?"

"Ange.." she said in a warning tone. "Sorry." She looked apologetically at the family around her.

"You can meet them right now Angela." Booth said, pulling his mom closer to the monitor. "This is my mom, Stella." He gestured to his dad and Jared and Lindsay to come closer. "This is my dad, James and my brother Jared and his wife Lindsay." He continued. "Everyone, this is Angela. She is the forensic artist at the Jeffersonian."

"I'm Hodgins. Nice to meet you." Said Hodgins coming into view. "And this.." he said gesturing to Zach, "is Zach Addy."

"Dr. Zach Addy." corrected Zach.

"We're Brennan's family." Angela asserted.

"Nice to meet you." James said, smiling.

She looked and noticed that Stella, Jared and Lindsay had confused looks on their faces. James seemed to be taking it in stride however.

"We should get back to work." Angela said. "I would like to leave the lab soon."

"Okay Zach, email me the.." she started, but was cut off by Angela.

"No!" Angela said. "We will deal with it on Monday. You have a nice weekend and try not to think about dead bodies okay?"

Booth chuckled.

"What are you laughing at?" Angela said, pointing at him. "You are just as bad as she is. I will see you two on Monday okay?"

"Okay Ange." She said, sighing. "Bye."

"Sorry about that." She said, turning to look at everyone.

"It's okay." James replied. "Your family is very nice, I can't wait to meet them in person."

When she heard James say that, she almost leapt up and hugged him. She could see the confused looks on the others faces and was concerned that she would have to explain her whole story, something she did not want to do at nine o'clock in the morning. She noted that James had accepted that Angela, Zach and Hodgins were her family even though clearly they were not related.

"Well.." Booth piped up. "We should go shower and get ready if we want to be back by three. Mom, can you watch Parker while we get ready?"

"Sure." Stella replied.

She packed up her laptop and followed Booth upstairs. As soon as they were in the room, Booth grabbed the laptop out of her hands, put it on the bed and began kissing her furiously.

"Did I tell you that I love you yet today?" he said, once they parted.

"No." she replied, smiling. "I am disappointed too. It's almost nine. You usually have told me twice by now."

"Well let me make it up to you." He said flashing her a wicked smile and gesturing towards the bathroom.

"We need to get ready to go." She replied.

"That's why it will be so much faster if we shower together." He said grinning.

Before she could reply, he had scooped her up and dragged her into the bathroom and shut the door.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Here's the next one! Hope you like! **

"Booth I can't possibly…" she said.

"Come on." He begged. 'You know you want it. I can see it in your eyes."

She unconsciously licked her lips. "It's too…. much." She said, averting her eyes.

"You can do it." He said, staring at her intently. "Come on Temperance."

"Well…" she said. She took a deep breath and went for it. She murmured in delight and licked her lips again.

"See?" he said. "Did I or did I not say that you would love a cheesesteak?"

She took another bite of the sandwich and swallowed. "Yeah you did." She grinned.

"See Dr. Bones, it's the best ever!" Parker piped up.

"You are both right, it is." She said. They were sitting on the grass in the park taking a break from the day's activities. They had been all over Philadelphia. She saw the Liberty Bell and they saw the Declaration of Independence. Unfortunately Booth refused to let her go in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

He had however shown her and Parker where he had gone to school and the places he used to hang out. It had been great. She liked learning about him and his life. She knew that there were some things, like his time as a sniper, that he may never tell her. So knowing other things about him made her happy.

Besides there were things about her life that she didn't know if she would ever tell him. It had definitely kept her mind off what was going to happen this afternoon. She was fairly nervous about meeting the rest of Booth's family.

She liked Booth's dad, that was for sure. He was easygoing just like Booth. She definitely could see the traits that passed from father to son. Booth's mom on the other hand was different. She was friendly but had made that comment about Booth's name last night.

'And this morning with Angela and the guys..' she thought to herself. It was clear that Stella did not understand. 'She is just trying to be protective of her son.' She thought. She had liked Jared and Lindsay and the cousins as well, but she knew that her job made her look like a freak in some people's eyes.

"Earth to Temperance, come in Bones." Booth said, jolting her out of her thoughts.

"What?" she replied.

"We should head back, it's already 2. I am sure half my family will be there by now." He said.

"Oh right." She said. They got up off the grass and started walking to where they had parked the car. Parker was in between them, holding each of their hands and walking extremely slowly. She could see that he would fall asleep as soon as they got in the car.She looked over and saw Booth grinning.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing." He replied. "It's just that this morning was nice. You know, my family meeting your family."

"I think your family was confused." She said.

"It doesn't matter." He replied. "I think they got the point."

"Thank you." She said.

"For what?" he said, looking at her confusedly.

"For not telling your family about my family. My biological family I mean. Your dad told me when we were playing chess that you had said that it was up to me to tell them if I wanted to." She explained. "I appreciate that. It's not that I don't want to tell them it's just…"

"Long and complicated, I know." He said, as they headed towards the car. "It's okay, I understand. I was there for some of it and I don't have any desire to tell people about it." He opened the car door and put Parker in his seat. He began to fall asleep immediately. They got into the car and headed off.

"Seeley?" she said, turning to look at him as they drove back to his parent's place. "I just wanted to tell you that I have had a great time this weekend. It's been really fun and relaxing."

"Thank you for coming." He replied. "I know its not your thing, so I appreciate it." They drove in silence for a few minutes.

"Listen Bones…" he said. "Tommorrow morning my family usually goes to church. I know my mom will want me and Parker to go. You are welcome to come with us or you can stay at the house, either way…"

She sat thinking about it for a moment. She had forgotten it was Sunday tommorrow. Booth usually went to church most Sundays for early mass. Although there were many things she could have done, she always found her self lingering in bed, drifting in and out of sleep, waiting for him to come back. He would come in and peel off his suit and crawl back into bed with her and they would spend the morning in bed in each other's arms before leisurely getting up to continue their day. Unless they had Parker. Or a case.

"Of course I will come." She said. "It's important to your family and to you. And I will be good I promise."

He laughed. "Just don't tell my mother that you think Jesus was a zombie."

" I was just alluding to the fact that…" she started.

"She still won't like it." He interrupted. He took one hand off the wheel and grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. "Thanks." He said.

"Your welcome." She replied. "Ugh, is there going to be food at this thing?"

"Yeah why?" he asked.

"Because I am so full right now." she said, rubbing her stomach.

"That's what a Philly cheesesteak will do to you." Booth said, grinning.

"Thanks alot!" she said. "I knew it was too much."

"Then why did you keep eating it?" he asked.

"I couldn't help myself." she retorted.

He shot her another grin and began to laugh as they continued on their way to his parent's house.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews! Here's the next chapter! **

"So what is it you do again Temperance?" said the man standing next to her. He was a cousin of Booth's but she couldn't remember his name.

"Umm, well please call me Tempe." She started. She didn't like anyone other than Booth calling her Temperance, it just didn't feel right. "And I am a forensic anthropologist. I specialize in identifying human remains."

"You mean like dead people?" the man said, a look of distaste on his face.

'Here we go again.' She thought to herself. For the past three hours she had explained her job to half of Booth's family, most of them not understanding why she would do something like that. They had listened to her explanation and then quickly moved to another topic. For most of the time, Booth was next to her so he steered the conversation into something that she wouldn't be bothered by, but right now he was nowhere to be found.

"Yes." She said, in response.

"Umm, interesting…" the man trailed off. "So what do your parents think of this?"

She flinched at his question. "I don't have contact with my parents." She replied, thinking this was the simplest way to end this line of questioning.

"Wow, that's too bad." The man said sympathetically. "What happened?"

"Excuse me?" she said rudely. She had been thrown by the question.

"Oh well if you don't want to talk about it." The man said.

"I don't" she replied, firmly.

"Well…" the man trailed off. "I should go find my mother. It was nice to meet you Temperance." He walked off, leaving her standing alone again. She scanned the room but couldn't see Booth anywhere. She felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned and came face to face with a petite blond woman.

"Hi." The woman said. "My name is Melanie. You must be Seeley's new girlfriend."

"Umm… yes, I am." She said awkwardly. "I'm Dr. Temperance Brennan. But you can call me Tempe."

"Oh..well it's nice to meet you Tempe." Melanie replied. "I was listening to you explain your job to Mark. It sounds….interesting."

She surmised that Mark was the man she was just talking to. "Thanks." She replied. She was about to ask Melanie what she did for a living, when she was cut off.

"So you and Seeley are partners?" Melanie asked.

"Yes we are." She replied, a smile coming to her face.

"It must be exciting working with the FBI." Melanie said.

"Yes it is." She said. "All aspects of my job are exciting." She tried not to sound defensive.

"Right." Melanie said. "I can imagine that it must be difficult explaining that to people."

She relaxed immediately. "Yes it is. Some people think what I do is bizarre." Maybe Melanie would be different from the others.

"Explaining to adults is one thing, but to children it must be extremely difficult." Melanie said. "But I guess you two will figure out what to say."

"I'm sorry, what?" she said, completely confused.

"Well, when you and Seeley have children." Melanie said. "I mean obviously not now, because you're not married yet, but in the future…"

"I don't want children." She said bluntly.

"Really?" Melanie said. "How come? I have two and they are the most precious things in the world."

She felt her heart pound. "I just don't want them."

"Want what?" Stella said, coming over to them.

"Children." Melanie replied. "Tempe was explaining that she didn't want children."

"You don't want children?" Stella said questioningly.

"I'm fine with Parker." She stumbled out.

"Oh." Stella said. "I didn't realize. After Parker was born, Seeley was so gung ho about having more children but I guess things change."

"Yes." She replied shakily. She was trying to think about the best way to change the topic. 'Think.' She berated herself. 'You have a doctorate and you can't think of anything to say?'

"Oh don't worry." Melanie piped up. "You will change your mind."

"Umm…right." She said, awkwardly. "I should go find Seeley. Have you seen him?"

"No I haven't." Stella said.

"Okay, well excuse me." She turned and walked away from the two women, who were staring after her. She walked by several people until she reached the front door. She dug for her shoes in the big pile by the door, grabbed her coat and headed out to the porch.

She took a deep breath and let out a shaky sigh. 'He wants more children.' She thought to herself. The thought kept running through her head. She sat down on one of the benches and sighed again.

This afternoon had definitely been frustrating. She knew that people wouldn't understand what she did for a living. She knew she shouldn't get riled up at the looks of disgust on their faces. She had seen it so many times before. But this time was different, it was Booth's family and she wanted to fit in. She also had to contend with several of his aunts and cousins trying to get spoilers for her next book out of her. 'But at least that meant they liked me.' She thought. She heard the door creak open and turned to look. A woman stepped out of the door and walked towards her.

"Hi, I'm Kate." The woman said. "I'm Seeley's second cousin."

"Hi, I'm Tempe." She replied. "I'm Seeley's partner. And girlfriend." She added as an afterthought.

"Listen Tempe, don't worry I don't want children either." Kate said smiling.

"You heard that?" she said.

"Oh yeah." Kate replied. "I have been getting the same line from my mother for a long time. It's hard for people to understand."

"Tell me about it." She muttered.

"Why is so difficult for people to believe that a woman doesn't want children?" Kate said.

"Well, anthropologically speaking, procreation is one of the defining factors of our species." She replied. "Since the woman has the child bearing capabilities, people look negatively towards those who do not want to participate on instinct."

"That's cool." Kate said.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble." She said. "Booth says I have a habit of doing that."

"That's okay." Kate replied. "You're the forensic anthropologist right? And author? I have read your books. Very good by the way."

"Thanks." She replied. "And yes, I am a forensic anthropologist."

"So what do you do exactly?" Kate asked.

She held in a sigh. "I identify human remains by looking at their skeleton and determining factors such as age, race, height and how they died."

"That's really neat." Kate said. "And you work with Seeley to help solve crimes?"

"Yes, we are partners." She replied, relaxing a bit. Kate didn't seem disturbed by her job. "What do you do?"

"I work in a non-profit as a fundraiser." Kate replied. "Not a real job, according to my father. You can see I am the black sheep in my family."

"Black sheep?" she asked confusingly. "I don't know what that means."

Kate laughed. "It means that I am the one that my family thinks went down the wrong path."

The door squeaked open again and Booth stepped out.

"Escaping the party are we ladies?" he said with a grin on his face.

"Hey you are not allowed out here unless you brought hard liquor." Kate said, laughing. "And you seem to have escaped yourself."

He sat on the steps of the porch. "Yeah well, you know the family." He ran his fingers through his hair.

"That I do." Kate replied.

"How are you holding up?" he said to her. "Is my family being nice to you? I mean other then all the dead body questions."

"Yeah." She said, saying a little white lie. "They are being nice." It was partially true, some of them were being nice.

"Good." He replied. "I'm glad. Listen you two, I think it is close to dinner time so we should head in. I have got to go tear Parker away from the tv."

"He hasn't been watching tv this whole time?" she asked getting up off of the bench.

"Umm.. possibly." He replied. "Don't worry, I will let you give him a nice anthropology lecture later to diminish the effects of the tv."

"Hey!" she said, crossing over to him and punching him in the arm.

"Let's go inside and get some food, shall we?" he said. Kate got up and headed inside. She was about to follow when he pulled her back.

"I thought we were going inside." She said.

"Yeah." He replied. "Forgot something." He leaned down and kissed her gently. "Now we can go get dinner." He said grinning as he lead her inside.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thank you so much for all of the reviews! I have to say, I like this chapter, but only because Parker is so huggable!**

She sipped her coffee slowly, listening to everyone swapping funny stories and anecdotes. In an effort to make her feel more welcome, some of Booth's family members starting telling her embarassing stories about Booth and his childhood. She laughed as Jared explained about the time Booth had tried to fix the barbecue and singed his eyebrows, eyelashes and nosehairs off. Booth sat beside her, interjecting and explaining that it was really Jared's fault.

He had been by her side since they had gone in for dinner, expertly deflecting personal questions for her and explaining her job in easier terms. On the other side of her was Parker, leaning against her, quietly playing his videogame. He had been playing with the other kids when suddenly he had come and sat with them.

Dinner had gone well, she had stuck close to Kate and proceeded to have an extremely interesting conversation with her about grad school, charities, forensics and all sorts of things. There had been a few awkward moments, like when Booth's aunt asked when they were going to get married, but other than that it was okay.

She still felt slightly uncomfortable though. Sure, she had funny family stories that she could tell, but it hurt to talk about them. Maybe if she hadn't found her mother's remains or found out that her father was alive and murdered people, or watched him and Russ leave her behind, she could be at a place where she could tell them. But now she felt like she wouldn't ever be able to tell her childhood stories. Like the events of the last six months tainted them for her.

She realized how different her and Booth were. She had still had doubts about their relationship and this weekend only served to enhance this doubts. She shook her head out of her thoughts and tried to focus on the story that Booth's uncle was telling. She looked over at Booth and he smiled at her. There was something about his smile that told her that everything was going to be alright. She laughed along with everyone else at the conclusion of the story.

She glanced quickly at her watch and noticed that it was almost nine o'clock. Most of Booth's family had already left, with the exception of his uncles, aunts and some of his cousins. She looked down at Parker and noticed that he was drifting off. She nudged Booth.

"I think it's somebody's bedtime." She said, gesturing to Parker.

"Definitely." He said smiling back. "I will take him upstairs."

"No it's okay." She replied. "I will give him a bath and put him to bed and come back down, okay?"

"Need a break from the Booth family?" he whispered into her ear.

"Just a little one." She honestly replied. She turned and picked up Parker.

"Ready for your bath?" she said.

"Can I have bubbles?" Parker said, waking up.

"Yep." She replied. She had seen bath bubbles in the bathroom earlier. "Excuse us." She said to everyone else. She left the living room and headed up the stairs. She soon got Parker situated in the tub and was rubbing shampoo through his hair as he splashed around.

"Dr. Bones?" Parker said.

"Yes?" she replied.

"Are we going to church tommorrow?" Parker asked.

"Yes we are." She said.

"You too, Dr. Bones?" Parker said.

"Yep, me too." She said. "You will have to show me what to do."

"Okay." Parker said. "We have to kneel, and we sing songs and we say prayers."

She washed the shampoo out of his hair and moved on to conditioner.

"Dr. Bones?" Parker asked again.

"Yes." She replied. Parker was neverending when it came to asking her questions like why the sky was blue or why some animals have fur and others do not.

"Can you be my second mommy?" Parker said.

She sucked in her breath at the question. She was not expecting that question, that was for sure.

"Umm…" she said, unable to answer. What was she supposed to say?

"Cuz my friend at school Jason has two mommies and I would like two mommies too!" Parker said. "And you would make a good mommy cuz you know everything!"

She picked up a plastic bucket, filled it with water and poured it over his head to remove the conditioner.

"Well, Parker that's something that your dad has to decide." She said shakily. "And your mom too."

"Oh." Parker said. "If I ask Daddy and he says yes, then will you be my second mommy?"

'Oh god.' She thought to herself. She could only imagine the implications of him asking Booth. She thought about what she had said earlier to Stella. That she didn't want children and that she was fine with Parker. This implied that Parker was hers already.

"You know, we should talk about this later." She said, trying to avoid the issue. "It's time that you got out and into bed."

"Okay, Dr. Bones." Parker said, looking a little sad. He stepped out of the tub and into the towel she was holding.

"You know what Parker?" she said. "Either way, I still love you."

"I love you too, Dr. Bones." Parker said, giving her a hug. She felt tears well up in her eyes. They both climbed into bed and she started reading him a book. She was about halfway through when she noticed he was sound asleep. She was going to get up and head back downstairs, but decided to stay. She put down the book and Parker snuggled into her.

She thought about what had happened. First Stella saying that Booth wanted more kids and then Parker asking her to be his mommy. It was all too much. Her heart pounded rapidly. 'Is this what he wants?' she thought to herself. 'The kids and the picket fence and everything?' He had told her before that he didn't need that, but she wasn't feeling sure. What if deep down he did? He would start to resent her and then it would all fall apart. She wasn't sure if she could handle it.

She looked over at Parker and smiled. When Parker had asked her to be his second mom, a tiny voice in the back of her head shouted 'yes' before she could stop it. She loved Parker and even though she wasn't prepared to have children, she was willing to have him. She shut her eyes, her mind going over everything that had happened today. Before she knew it, she was fast asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry for the delay with this! I completely forgot to post! I hope you like this chapter, thank you soooo much for all the reviews!**

She opened her eyes and looked around confused. She noticed the clock said 11:14 pm. She realized that she had fallen asleep with Parker. 'I hope Booth's family doesn't think I am being rude.' She thought to herself. She sat up and stretched her arms. Booth wasn't in bed so she assumed that he was downstairs with the rest of his family still. She got up and started to head downstairs.

She was at the stair landing when she heard Booth speak.

"Excuse me?" he said.

"All I am saying is that you are making a lot of sacrifices for her and what is she doing for you?" she heard Stella say.

"Sacrifices?" Booth said, sounding confused.

"Well for one thing she doesn't want children." Stella said.

"Now Stella.." James interrupted.

"I am already aware that Temperance doesn't want children, Mom. We have talked about it." Booth said.

"And you are okay with that?" Stella said. "Really? Because after Parker, you wanted to have a lot of children."

"Things change." Booth said stiffly.

She sunk to the step, unsure about what to do. She couldn't go down there now, they would have known she was listening.

"And she doesn't want to get married. And she isn't religious." Stella continued. "It's just a lot of things. I like her, I do. I just am worried about you. You seem to be giving up an awful lot for this girl."

"Look Mom.." Booth started.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt." Stella said. "And she could hurt you."

She didn't hear Booth's response. She couldn't hear anything. She just turned and headed back up the stairs. All of the fears and insecurities she had were coming to a head. She went back into the bedroom and headed for the bathroom, went in and shut the door. She slid herself down the door and began to cry. She couldn't believe that she had heard that. She knew that Stella had a problem with her but she didn't know that she disliked her so much. She recalled Stella's words. 'You seem to be giving up a lot for this girl.' Maybe she was right. Maybe Booth was giving up all these things for her and she wasn't giving up anything.

All she wanted to do was come and meet his family this weekend. She hoped that they would get along and that she would be accepted. He had been so sure, promising her that they were going to love her and that she had nothing to worry about. Now here she was on the bathroom floor questioning her relationship with Booth. 'What if he listens to his family?' she thought to herself. Maybe he will realize that she isn't the one. The thought of this made her cry harder. She stopped suddenly and brushed the tears away from her cheeks. When did she become so needy? How had her whole life's happiness become wrapped up in him?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Don't say another word, Mom." Booth said, his eyes flashing. "Not another word. You want to talk sacrifices? Her being in a relationship with me is a sacrifice for her!" His voice began to rise with anger.

"Her parents disappeared when she was fifteen. Walked out of her life and left her alone. She was put in foster care for two years where she was bounced to six different homes! Flash forward to a year ago when she identified her own mothers remains and then found out her father was still alive! She was reunited with him two months ago, only to have him and her brother walk out on her and leave her alone again. So the fact that she has opened up and is in a relationship with me is a huge sacrifice for her!" His eyes were burning with anger and his heart was pounding.

"And frankly I don't care if you like her Mom." He said. "Or any of you for that matter." He gestured to the other people sitting in the room. "Because you have the rest of your lives to deal with it! Because I love her and I will never leave her. And that's just how it's going to be. And if you have a problem with it, then so be it. But try to open your eyes and see what she has done for me. She makes me a better person everyday. She loves Parker and she loves me and that's all that I want." He paused, trying to catch his breath.

He couldn't believe them. His own family acting like this. He knew that there might be some problems when he had brought Temperance up this weekend. But nothing like this. Couldn't they see? Couldn't they see how in love he was? How she had changed him and made him better?

"Seeley.." Stella started.

"No, you know what Mom?" he said. "I don't really want to talk to any of you right now. Goodnight."

He turned and walked out of the room and headed up the stairs, trying to calm himself down before he went into his bedroom. He opened the door and saw Parker sound asleep in the bed, and Temperance nowhere to be found. He saw the light on in the bathroom and moved towards it. He was paralyzed by the sound of soft sobbing coming from within. 'She heard.' He thought to himself, feeling a pang in his heart. He stood for a few minutes, not knowing what to do. He finally took a few steps toward the door and knocked gently.

"Temperance?" he said softly.

He felt her shift against the door. He knelt down and sat with his back pressed to the door. He put his head in his hands and waited.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I can't believe it! 26 reviews for the last chapter! I'm blown away and I'm so glad everyone's enjoying this story! I'm away for the weekend so the next update will be on Monday.**

She slowly unlocked the door and pulled it open. He stumbled a bit from leaning against the door and quickly stood up. She didn't know how long she had sat on the bathroom floor, with her head in her hands.

"Let's go for a walk." He said, before she could say anything. She nodded mutely, grabbed a sweater and they headed downstairs. The family was still there in the living room, talking quietly. They moved to the door, grabbing their coats and shoes and putting them on.

"Seeley…" James started, coming up to them.

"Not now Dad." He said, holding out his hand.

"I just wanted to give you the camping torch. It's pretty dark out there." James said, reaching into the closet and pulling it out.

"Thanks dad." He replied. He grabbed it and they headed out the door. She had kept her eyes purposely away from the living room where everyone was. They walked down the steps and starting walking off, unsure of what direction they were going.

"So…"he said. "You heard."

She nodded again silently.

"What do you…" he started. She cut him off.

"Maybe they're right." She mumbled.

"What?" he said, a look of disbelief on his face.

"About the sacrifices…" she trailed off.

"Wait, didn't you hear what I said to them?" he asked.

"No." she replied. "I couldn't listen anymore so I went upstairs. But listen.."

"I yelled at them." He interrupted.

"What?" she said, stopping and turning to look at him. "Why?"

"Because they were wrong. About all of it." He replied. "And way out of line."

"Seeley.." she said.

"No wait. I want to say something first, okay?" he said, brushing an errant lock of hair off her face.

She nodded again.

"These so-called sacrifices that I am making?" he said. "I don't think they are sacrifices."

She started to speak but he pressed his fingers against her lips. "Let's go through them logically." He said. They both smiled; usually she was the one being logical.

"Number one; marriage." He said. "Honestly? I would love to marry you. I really would. I know you think its an archaic institution and all that, but I would still like to stand up in front of everyone and show them how much we love each other. That being said, we have technically only been dating for two months. Either way, I know its going to be you and me forever. I just do. So yes I would love to marry you eventually, but if it's not what you want than that is okay." He paused to take a deep breath. He reached for her hand and sliding his fingers in hers, they began to walk again.

"The second issue is religion." He said. "I am always going to be religious and I plan on raising Parker Catholic as well. But you don't have to be in order to make me happy. I understand your viewpoint. I may not believe it, but I get it. And it's one of the things that makes you who you are. So I wouldn't ever want you give up something you believe in just for me, just as I know you wouldn't ask me to do the same thing. This is a complete non-issue for me, so you know."

"The third 'sacrifice' is children." He said, hearing the sharp intake of her breath. He squeezed her hand reassuredly. "They are right, my family. After Parker was born, I did want more children. But things change. You and Parker are the most important things in the world to me. And you and I, one of the things that works for us is our partnership. It defines who we both are and who we are together and I don't want to…I can't lose that again." He stopped walking and looked around. They had walked around the house and back again. He lead her to a little bench in the garden. They sat down and he continued.

"If we had a baby it would change everything about our life. And I am happy with our life, with you and Parker. It makes me happy. It's enough. I'm not dumb, I know that one day we won't be able to be partners anymore, but right now I don't want anything to change. We have Parker, and that is all the children I want." He said. He stopped and looked at her, waiting for her to speak.

"Are you sure?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "What if you regret it in five or ten years even? I don't want us…I don't want us to go wrong." She managed to get out.

"I'm sure. And we won't." he said with absolute certainty. She looked into his eyes and she could see he was being completely honest. She felt a tear roll down her cheek and she leaned forward, wrapped her arms around him and buried herself in his chest. He immediately put his hand around her waist, while his other hand stroked her hair.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered. "My family, I swear I didn't know they were going to be like that. And…when I got mad I told them about your family, I didn't mean to it just slipped out."

She could feel him tense up as he waited for her response. "It's okay." She said, her words muffled by his chest. She pulled back and looked into his eyes. "I promise, it's okay. At least now I don't have to explain to each one of them individually."

He gave a soft chuckle and pulled her back into his arms. "So we are okay?" he asked.

"Yes we are." She replied. They held each other for a long time, both unaware of how much time had passed.

"Seeley?" she said.

"Mmmm?" he murmered.

"I will compromise on the marriage thing." She replied. His response was to squeeze her tighter. Even though her she couldn't see his face, she knew he was smiling.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When they had gone back in the house, everyone had left and all but the kitchen lights were off. He knew his parents were in there but he had no desire to talk to them tonight. They headed upstairs, got changed and laid on the bed with Parker in the middle.

"Booth?" she whispered, after a few minutes of silence.

"Yes?" he whispered back.

"Parker said something… I mean he.." she started. "When I was giving him a bath he said something."

"Okay." He replied, not understanding.

She struggled with her words. "He.. He asked if I could be his second mommy." She flinched and waited for his reaction.

He tried to hide his grin and keep his face neutral. "What did you say?" he asked.

"I said that it was up to you and Rebecca." She replied.

"But..do you want…I mean." He said, stumbling over his words.

She paused for a moment and looked down at Parker, sound asleep in the middle of the bed.

"Yes." She said. "Yes I do."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, I was away this weekend. Here's the second-last chapter, one more to go!**

"Daddy! Daddy!" Parker said, pushing his arm. He opened his eyes and blinked.

"What bub?" he said groggily.

"It's time for church!" Parker said. He blinked again and looked at the clock.

"Okay, bub. We will be down in a minute. Did you have breakfast?" he asked.

"Grandma's making it right now." Parker said, jumping up and down.

"Okay, we will be down in a minute." He said. Parker scampered off and shut the door. He rolled over and saw Temperance sound asleep, her wavy brown hair splayed across the pillow, a soft smile on her lips. He scooted closer to her, nestled his face into his shoulder and put his arm around her waist. He started planting soft kisses on her neck.

"Mmmmmmm…" she said, without opening her eyes. "What time is it?"

"Almost time for church." He replied, kissing his way down her neck and back up again.

"Well then we should get up." She said, teasingly. She had no desire to move from the position she was in.

"We should." He said, propping himself up on his elbow. He immediately pressed his lips against hers. She pulled him closer, her fingers tugging at the edge of his shirt, lifting it up. His brain vaguely registered what she was trying to do and he broke apart from the kiss, panting. "We definitely don't have time for that." He said, with a mischevious grin in his eyes.

She pouted and sat up. "Then let's get up." She said, extracting herself from the covers.

He groaned and rolled over. He grabbed a shirt and they headed downstairs. They walked into the kitchen. James was sitting at the table, reading the paper and drinking a coffee. Parker was happily munching a on piece of toast. Stella was at the stove, making eggs.

James looked up as they entered. "Hi Seeley. Hi Tempe." James said.

"Hi Dad." He replied as they sat down.

James got up and got them two cups of coffee. After a few moments, Stella walked over with the pan of eggs in her hand.

"Would you…"Stella started nervously. "like some eggs?"

"Sure." She replied, holding out her plate. Booth did the same.

Stella served James and Parker and they all began to eat in silence.

"Dr. Bones?" Parker said, cutting through the tension in the room. "When we get back home, can we play with my skeleton kit?"

"I don't know if there will be time." She replied truthfully. "Your mom is coming to get you tonight."

"Oh yeah." Parker said, looking sad.

"But the next time you come, we can do it, I promise." She said.

"Okay." Parker said, as he scooped up some eggs and ate them.

Booth on his part was amazed that Parker still liked playing with that toy. Everyone was silent again.

"I'd like to apologize." James said bluntly. "It was inappropriate of my family to say such things. I'm sorry Tempe."

"It's okay." She said.

"Actually it's not." James replied, with a flash of anger in his eyes. "I owe you an apology as well Seeley."

"I…I do too." Stella said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…" she trailed off.

"It's okay." She said more firmly. And she knew that it was. The whole world could hate for all she cared this morning. Booth loved her and that's all that mattered. Besides she knew Booth's mom was just being protective.

"Yeah, it's fine Mom." Booth mumbled.

"We should get ready for church, right Parker?" she asked. She got the feeling that Booth and his parents needed to be alone.

'Yep, Dr. Bones." Parker said, pushing himself away from the table. She stood up and grabbed his hand and they went upstairs to get dressed.

"So…" Stella said.

"I'm not going to forgive you yet." He said, stubbornly. "You hurt me Mom and you hurt her."

"I'm sorry." Stella said, tears in her eyes. "I was just trying to help."

"And I get that." He replied. "And I'm not mad anymore. I'm just a little hurt that's all." He stood up, not wanting to continue the conversation. "We should get ready for church don't you think?"

"Yes we should." James said. "Tempe's coming?"

"Yeah." He replied. "We are going to leave right after if you don't mind. We have a long drive and I've got to get Parker back to Rebecca."

"Not a problem." James said, putting the dishes in the dishwasher.

He headed upstairs and heard the sound of giggling behind the door. He opened the door and saw Parker standing there laughing as Temperance tried to tie his minature tie.

"That's not right Dr. Bones." Parker said, giggling again.

"Let me help." He said, coming into the room. He went over to Parker and knelt down. He suppressed a laugh as he saw what she had done. He quickly unknotted it and tied it back up again.

"Okay bub, you're all done. Take your backpack and go downstairs and make sure that you haven't left anything okay? We will be down in a minute." He said. Parker scampered downstairs as he turned to her grinning.

"What?" she said defensively.

"Nothing." He replied, moving closer and wrapping his arms around her waist. "I just think it's cute that you have two doctorates but you can't tie a tie."

"Hey!" she exclaimed, pretending to look mad. He pressed a kiss against her forehead.

"So are you okay?" she asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah." He replied. "I am. I'm still bothered by what happened and it might take me a while to forgive her, but she's my mom right?"

She nodded. "Well then, let's get ready for church." She said. They got dressed and packed up their things and headed downstairs where James, Stella and Parker were waiting.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Here we go! The last chapter of Family! Don't worry though, I'm going to post the first chapter of the new story along with this, so you can go read that. It's called Together Forever and it's story #5 in this series. I hope you like this and thank you so much for the reviews!**

She sat there silent, trying to absorb everything around her. She noticed that Booth had sat them away from the candles this time. She smiled as she thought back to the last time they were in church together. She had asked him to come and he had said no, but after the Gravedigger incident, he relented and brought her to church with him. She remembered what Jack had said to her in the car, that it was faith that she had in Booth. She denied it at the time but now knew it was completely true. She did have complete faith in him.

Her mind drifted to the events of this weekend. She had told Booth's parents that it was okay, and it was, but truth be told she felt hurt. She knew that people didn't like her, she lacked social skills and previous boyfriends had called her cold and distant. She was a pragmatist so she knew that the outcome of the weekend was to be expected, but she felt hurt anyway.

She thought it was strange how their relationship had caused a line between people who wanted the relationship and people who didn't. The people who were okay with it were Angela, of course, Zach, Hodgins and surprisingly Rebecca. Against were Cam, Cullen and Dr. Goodman although they had shifted over to the former side of the line eventually. That left Booth's parents and family. She shook her head out of her thoughts. 'A list is inconclusive and not needed.' She thought to herself. She turned and looked over at Booth, his eyes closed in prayer. Sitting in between them, Parker was the spitting image of his father. His eyes were screwed together and it looked like he was praying hard for something. She smiled.

She had been determined to be good in church. She didn't ask him questions about Catholicism or say that she thought it was ridiculous that you could sin and just go tell someone about it and get away with it. She just sat and tried to look respectful.

She let out a small sigh. She was tired. This weekend had tired her out. She was looking forward to going home, taking a hot bath and crawling into bed. She felt a squeeze in her hand and she looked over and saw that Booth had grabbed her hand. She looked at him, smiled and squeezed back.

This weekend, despite having its problems, actually had been good. She had really enjoyed Booth showing her around Philadelphia. And the altercation with his parents had proved to her that they could fight for this relationship. She felt more assured that they could get through anything. She smiled again. She didn't know how, but her life had been inexplicably entwined with his. This included the good and the bad and she was okay with that. More than okay.

He looked over at her smiling and wondered what she was thinking about. 'It's probably not God.' He thought to himself. He supressed a chuckle. They had been together for two and a half months and sometimes he still couldn't believe they were together. Like one day he would wake up and it was all a dream, they were just partners again and nothing more. He was damned lucky and he knew it.

He thought about this weekend and wondered how it could be so good and so bad at the same time. Obviously the bad thing was his family and how they treated her. Not all of them had been bad however, and he could definitely see Kate and Temperance becoming friends in the future. But last night's events hurt. There were some good moments too, like him showing Parker and her around Philadelphia and her saying she would comprise on marriage. 'I will definitely have to save that thought in my mind.' He thought to himself. And her telling him that Parker asked her to be his second mom and that she wanted to be. That tugged at his heartstrings. They were becoming a family. 'No.' he corrected himself. 'We are a family already.'

They had sung the closing hymn and said the final prayer and then church was over. Parker was true to his word, showing her how to hold her hands for praying and when to kneel and when to stand for singing. They shuffled along the pew and headed towards the door. Booth's parents were in front of them and had stopped to talk to the priest. They walked up to them.

The priest looked up and smiled. "Seeley Booth." He said, stretching out his hand. "Long time, no see."

"Father Tom, it's good to see you." He replied, shaking his hand.

"And Parker. It's been a while as well." Father Tom said. "How are you?"

"I'm good." Parker replied.

"Let me introduce you to Temperance Brennan." He said, gesturing at her.

"Dr. Temperance Brennan?" Father Tom asked. She nodded her head. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I have read all of your books, they are quite excellent."

"Thank you." She replied. She always felt uncomfortable when people praised her for the books.

"How did you like the service?" Father Tom asked.

She felt Booth tense up beside her. "It was very nice, thank you." She replied. He exhaled his breath and relaxed.

"Well I should go attend to the others." Father Tom said. "It was good to see you Seeley and you Parker. And nice to meet you Dr. Brennan." He turned and headed towards some other churchgoers.

They headed outside along with Booth's parents.

"Are you sure you don't want to come back for some lunch?" Stella asked.

"We can't Mom, we really need to get on the road." He replied.

"Daddy do we have to go in the car now?" Parker asked.

"Yes we do." He replied. "Say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa."

"Bye Grandma, bye Grandpa." Parker said, giving both Stella and James big hugs.

"It was nice to meet you." Stella said to her.

"It was nice to meet you as well." She replied. She turned to James.

"You come back anytime you want, okay?" James said. "It's not often that I get such a good chess partner."

"Absolutely." She said smiling. She watched as Booth gave both his parents a hug. They headed to the car and got in. Parker furiously waved out the window as they headed out of the church parking lot and headed home.

She came out of the bathroom, her fluffy white robe tied around her. She padded into the living room where he was sitting on the couch, watching tv.

"How was your bath?" he said, turning off the tv and gesturing her over to the couch.

"It was very relaxing." She replied, sitting down on the couch. He lifted his arms and she snuggled into him. He arms came down around her and tried to pull her closer. They sat for a few moments, neither of them saying anything.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

"Don't be." She replied. "It's okay. It really is." She sat up and looked at him. "Your family loves you, they were just trying to look out for you."

"Yeah I know." He said. "But it won't make the next family reunion less awkward."

"Well I guess we will deal with that when we come to it." She said.

He reached up and ran his hand through her hair. "What did I do to deserve you?" he asked.

"Everything." She replied as she pulled him into her arms and kissed him.


End file.
